Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: October 9th, 2012
Pages: 363
Song I Played While Reading: Clean by Taylor Swift
Rating: 5 stars
Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland and get her to fall in love with him.
Ariel doesn't know it, but she holds the fate of the world in her hands. She's at a center of a power struggle between the Mercenaries, who fight to destroy love, and the Ambassadors, who try to keep it alive. If Romeo can win Ariel's heart and make her believe in true love, she will turn from her darker side once and for all. She'll no longer be a threat to the Ambassadors or to the world- and Romeo will be guaranteed protection from the wrath of the Mercenaries.
The seduction begins as a lie- Romeo is only out to save himself. But little by little, he finds that the lie has come truth: he's in love with Ariel, as she is with him. So Romeo vows to protect her for harm and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. When Ariel beings to suspect that Romeo's love is a deception, however, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation and her inner darkness may tear them apart.
Sweet baby Jesus was Romeo redeemed. I have an insane urge to laugh and cry at the same time because life is so incredibly unfair. I read something like this book and it's so tender and heartwarming and wonderful that my heart aches. The chances of having a love like this is so slim in real life and it makes me sad. So, so sad. Romeo should be the prime example of how a boyfriend/husband should treat their significant other.
I fell for him. Hard. He just might be in my Fictional Book Boyfriend Hall of Fame. I think because his intent was to woo her that he pulled out ALL the stops. Every fucking word was perfect and beautiful and so unrealistic that I would stop and cry a little because WHERE IS MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR? WHERE? And then, he of course fell in love with her and everything was so mushy and charming and delicious AND I'M RUNNING OUT OF WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS BOOK.
Jay really knows how to rip a reader apart. Her writing is flawless and she described falling in love perfectly. Scratch that, she described life perfectly. It reminded me of Tabitha Suzuma's writing, how it seems like she's able to snatch a thought from your head and write it down on paper and make you realize "oh, that's what I'm feeling!" I definitely want to get my hands on her other books now.
I loved, loved, loved Ariel. She was human and realistic and I was able to connect with her on so many levels, it was insane. I'm always so wrapped up in fantasy novels that, when I come down to Earth and read book that takes place in the real world with real problems that I face, it's weird. A little unsettling at first, but then I realize that my problems matter too. That may be a strange thought, but it's comforting knowing that I deal with things that other people deal with too, even in a fictional story. I love having all those feelings broken down and dissected.
I still had an issue with the ending and where Romeo and Ariel ended up, which is the exact same problem from the first book. Jay doesn't describe how or why it occurs, which is a little frustrating since I really like how she does it. I like it, but I resent it since I don't understand it. BUT, that wasn't enough to stop me from giving this a whopping 5 stars. Books that can make me emotional, especially angry, are rare, and boy did one part piss me the hell off. I was enraged. Like, my face and ears were turning red and I was getting super hot and I just wanted to reach inside the book and strangle the idiot that was trying to sink my ship. Sign me up for being an Ambassador. I will protect true love WITH MY FREAKIN LIFE.
If you've read Juliet Immortal but haven't picked this one up yet, this is me telling you to get your life together, a.k.a. DONT YOU LIKE GETTING YOUR HEART BROKEN? Romeo, O Romeo, how I wish this story never ended.
Quotes
"I nod. "Understandable. Lamentable, but understandable."
A wrinkle forms above the bridge of her nose. "Lamentable."
"Regrettable; sad; worthy of much lamenting, wailing, gnashing of teeth." I smile, ready to put the series moment behind us.
"I know what it means. I just don't understand where you've been hiding this vocabulary."
"In my boxer briefs," I say with a silly grin. "If you'd let me take them off, you would have seen for yourself.""
""I like this." His voice is hushed. It's as if he feels it, that charge straight to the heart I get whenever I look at something by a master. Who would have imagined?
I guess I would have. Back when he sang that song for me at the spring formal rehearsal, I did. I believed he felt the way I get, that books and music and art dug deep into his guts and rearranged his molecules and seemed more real to him than real life ever does."
""It's only sixteen ninety-five," I say with a flutter of my lashes.
"You're series."
I prop my hands on my waist and stick out a hip, striking a pose worthy of a supermodel. "Look at me. Don't I look series?"
She collapses into the chair outside the dressing room in a fit of giggles so cute they make my inside fizz. "No! You must be stopped," she says.
"Why?" I strut down an aisle of yellowed lingerie, swiveling my hips, batting bras with flicks of my fingers. "I will be the king of the disco. I will be-" I spin and strike another pose. "An inspiration."
She sniffs and swipes at her eyes. "The real Dylan would die before he'd been caught in public in something like that."
"The real Dylan is boring." I brace my hands on the arms of her chair and lean down until our faces are a whisper apart. "And he's not one fourth the kisser I am."
"Is that right?" Her lips quirk.
"You know it is."
Her smile melts, and her breath comes faster. "Yeah. I do."
"She wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me in tight, and I swear I feel my soul brush against hers. I expand beyond the boundaries of Dylan's body, out until I am the waves crashing on the beach, the sun shining in her hair, the wind that sweeps over our skin. I am everything and nothing and exist only because this girl presses her heart to mine."
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